


Mali principii malus finis

by pocketbookangel



Category: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Genre: Alchemy, Body Horror, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-09 01:50:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4329198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocketbookangel/pseuds/pocketbookangel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lesley does her own magical research.</p>
<p>Written for the Lost Library exchange, a fic exchange focused on writing excerpts from texts mentioned in a work of fiction.</p>
<p>Vague spoilers for <em>Broken Homes</em>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mali principii malus finis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [originally](https://archiveofourown.org/users/originally/gifts).



_The bright red notebook was wedged against the back of the drawer, its hard cover keeping the drawer from opening. Lesley had never seemed like the diary-keeping type, the only time I'd seen her writing was when she was working, but recent events had taught me that I hadn’t known her as well as I’d thought, copper’s instincts kicking in too late. I knew I should turn the notebook over to Nightingale, but I could barely stand to open it myself._

_It wasn’t a diary. Lesley had been running some of the_ Principia Artes Magicis _and other magical texts from our library through Google, which meant her progress was not from my helpful mentoring, but from the magic of the internet. I wish I’d thought of that. The notebook was her attempt at sorting out the word salad the computer called a translation._

**On the study of philosophy and the knowledge of secret things** ; There are two kinds of vision, therefore, and of the words of counsel, both the past and future serve to rally the present, indeed, very easy and in plain terms, the forms of those mystical words covertly signal the restoration of all things that will occur on that blessed Day of Judgment when Nature herself will raise us up, we will rise as the Phoenix arises from the alembic and we will delight in the revelation of all things.

**On the diseases of the body and the diseases of the mind which cannot be eased** ; It does not suit the practitioner of magic to dwell on the limits of his practice, such as altering or restoring the human body; the restoration of the human form has never met with much success. It is possible that the injuries the flesh is heir to reflect a Divine plan which is beyond our ability to comprehend, so that all such endeavours must in the end be frustrated. Most attempts at correcting grievous injuries to the body have never been satisfactorily resolved, but as a matter of instruction, I should direct you to the history first recorded in the _Liber Loagaeth_ , that of the shepherd and his flowering staff, as an example of how the inability to restore what has been lost does not necessarily lead to an unhappy end.

The accident that led to the destruction of the shepherd’s membrum virile has not been recorded; he was a young and healthy lad, eagerly anticipating his upcoming marriage to the miller’s daughter, a fair and virtuous maiden whose husband would be entrusted with managing the substantial properties the miller had acquired in the village. He claimed he had been attacked by a wild animal while sleeping in the woods, but his cousin disagreed, saying they had been approached by a dark-haired woman, a wanderer from the other lands, where the foolish and wicked are led astray. Distraught over the prospect of his ruined hopes, the shepherd travelled to the cathedral town of E— to consult with a philosopher. Even in his remote and sylvan dwelling, stories of the doctors and the wonders that could be accomplished with a philosopher’s stone were told and marvelled over on long winter nights.

Alas, a truly pure stone has yet to be created, although a truer understanding of celestial geometry daily brings us closer to the creation of one. Without the stone to channel the anima, or spark of the divine fire, the elements that make up the flesh cannot be reconciled to the living whole. Yet power can reside in items that do not have life in themselves and that which was once living, can be brought into symmetry with that which still lives. The philosopher consulted long hours upon the hieroglyphic Sun to understand how unification could be achieved through its solar force. Finally, the philosopher advised the shepherd to cut a branch from a hawthorn tree at the height of the longest day of the year, the day the earth is most infused with masculine energy. This the shepherd did, and out of the hawthorn branch the philosopher created a replica of what the young man had lost. He attached this to the shepherd, and through the judicious application of his own magical power, the hawthorn replica was able to maintain its form and it appeared as Nature herself had fashioned it. The shepherd returned to his village, and before the end of the summer, he married the miller’s daughter.

To the eye, the shepherd appeared as other men, but when this illusion, for it was an illusion, did not last beyond the wedding night. When the moment came to consummate the marriage, the shepherd’s pleasure exceeded before he could approach his beloved as she lay in the wedding bed. It is not unknown for young men to be overcome upon beholding the longed for embrace, but the shepherd’s excitement overcame more than his pride. The form was held together by weak magics, and at the moment of the shepherd’s pleasure, it burst into blossom. The shepherd cast it away from his body, it took root in the earthen floor and swiftly became a full and living tree. The initial reaction of the miller’s daughter has not been recorded, but it is said that after some discussion with the elder women in the village, she decided to begin her married life as if nothing unusual had occurred. Perhaps they advised her as to different paths to marital pleasure as the miller’s daughter and the shepherd became known as ‘the lovebirds in the hawthorn’ and were the most contented couple in the parish, however, the marriage did not produce any offspring.

      _Lesley had scrawled_ what a cock _after the last paragraph. Her meaning was a little unclear, but I had to agree with the general feeling. I turned the page._

**On the uses of aqua celestis and aqua mirabilis** ; The habit of certain young women in this country of taking a vial of blessed acqua in hand while slumbering is a corruption of a unique process of discernment in which parts of a whole call out to each other, and in their longing for reunion, reflect their surroundings. Some have attributed the success of this method to the intervention of spirits, but the invocation of spirits is an imprecise art and the results are often uncertain. We are all aware of the many stories of the philosopher who is able to predict the ruin of cities, but unable to find an errant cow. A true system of magic uses forms that can be taught to those who have the will and the desire for enlightenment, the wisdom to discern the unseen, and the strength to avoid the temptations and worldly glory that appear with each success.

**On the study of philosophy and the knowledge of secret things** ; For those who seek only dominion over the elements that have been bequeathed to us by our Creator and which exist in harmony in His image, their knowledge will lead to nothing but despair.

_After this page, the ink was smeared and difficult to read. I wondered if Lesley had tried the trick with the vial of holy water. Was that how the Faceless Man had talked to her? The Folly was the only place guarded against magic._

**On the diseases of the body and the diseases of the mind which cannot be eased** ; There is no spell that can restore what has been lost. Complex forms can be linked together to reproduce the physical appearance, but they cannot animate flesh or bone with the divine spark, and once the magician falls into slumber, the illusion of youthful loveliness or a limb that was lost in battle will dissolve and return to the baser elements of which it was formed. Indeed, our hopes of restoration lie in seeking the land beyond our own where all that is secret will be revealed, all that is lost will be found, all that is broken will be made whole.


End file.
